


Support System

by hyacinthis



Category: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Genre: M/M, i lov these boys, once again this was gonna be longer but i’m exhausted, so enjoy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-16
Updated: 2017-10-16
Packaged: 2019-01-18 06:57:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12383178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyacinthis/pseuds/hyacinthis
Summary: “How can p-people be so cr-cruel?”Ari wishes he had the answers. He wishes he could give Dante some kind of closure, but he isn’t able to. People were just cruel. People were hateful. And it was almost like Dante was too naive to see that. Dante wanted to see the good in everyone. It was a beautiful thing, but it made things like this harder for Dante to understand. They were hard to understand as it was.“I wish it hadn’t been you, Dante.” Ari murmurs. “I wish it had been someone who deserved it.”





	Support System

It isn’t until Ari feels Dante start thrashing that he sits up. It’s hot, it always is. They’re lucky when it actually gets cold in fall. He looks at the clock. 2:34 AM. He’s tired, but Dante isn’t looking to good. He leans down a little, stroking through Dante’s hair. He’s sweating and his breathing is heavy, he whimpers occasionally after every few exhales. Ari doesn’t want to startle him but he doesn’t want to keep him stuck in his nightmare world. 

“Dante,” Ari says, gently, scratching his scalp. Dante doesn’t respond.

“Dante, you need to wake up,” Ari says, a little bit more firmly. Dante jolts in his sleep.

Ari sighs, sitting up a little. He grabs Dante’s shoulders, shaking him just enough to wake him up. And he does. He wakes up, staring up at Ari with wide, teary eyes. They both stare for a second before Dante bursts into tears, hiding his face in his hands. Ari lies down next to him, tugging Dante so that he could press his face into his chest. And Dante does.

Ari squeezes him close, lying down on his side slowly. He keeps Dante close to him, one hand rubbing his back while the other cards through his soft hair. It still hurts both of them. It hurts Dante to think about but it still comes back to haunt him. And it hurts Ari to see Dante hurting, knowing that he couldn’t have done anything when it happened.

“Dante,” Ari says. “Will you look at me?” He asks. 

Dante shakes his head, quietly crying into his chest. He grips onto Ari tighter, whimpering softly. Ari rubs his back, tracing his spine. It hurts seeing Dante upset like this. Ari is never going to let anyone hurt Dante again. So long as Ari is alive, nothing like that will ever happen to Dante again.

“Dante.” Ari says again, trying to lift up his head. Dante shakes his head. “Just let me see your face, please,” he says, finally able to pull Dante’s face from it’s hiding place.

They both stare at each other for a moment. Ari gently strokes Dante’s cheekbone with his thumb, wiping some of the tears away. Dante leans into the gentle affection, closing his eyes and sighing shakily. 

“You know I’m not going to let that happen to you again, right?” Ari asks softly. 

“Yes.” Dante answers quietly.

“And you know that when you dream about it, it isn’t going to hurt you, right?”

“Yes.”

“And you know that none of this makes you weak, right?” 

There’s silence and Dante squeezes his eyes shut, tears cascading down his soft cheeks. Ari’s heart breaks. Dante let’s out a small whimper and Ari pulls him close again. He cards his fingers through his hair, getting as close to Dante as he possibly can. Dante _sobs_ into his chest. He grips onto him tightly, balling his hands into fists in Ari’s shirt. 

“I-I wish it ha-hadn’t happened,” Dante sobs, shaking slightly.

“I know, I do too,” Ari murmurs, trying hard to calm him down.

“W-Why did it have to be m-me?”

“Because you’re confident in yourself, Dante, and they were threatened by it.”

“And th-a-at gives them the r-right to—“

“No, not at all.” Ari says a little more firmly, cutting Dante off before he can get the thought out of his mouth.

“I d-don’t get it, Ari,” Dante hiccups. “How ca-an people be so…. So v-violent?”

“I don’t know.”

“How can p-people be so cr-cruel?”

Ari wishes he had the answers. He wishes he could give Dante some kind of closure, but he isn’t able to. People were just cruel. People were hateful. And it was almost like Dante was too naive to see that. Dante wanted to see the good in everyone. It was a beautiful thing, but it made things like this harder for Dante to understand. They were hard to understand as it was.

“I wish it hadn’t been you, Dante.” Ari murmurs. “I wish it had been someone who deserved it.”

“Don’t s-say that,” Dante says softly. “No one de-deserved that.”

Ari begs to differ, but he doesn’t voice it. He doesn’t want to upset Dante further.

“Dante?” Ari asks. Dante makes a small noise of acknowledgement in response. “This doesn’t make you weak.”

There’s silence. Heart breaking silence. Ari hates those guys for making Dante feel weak. Dante is anything but weak.

“Dante, if anything, all of this made you stronger. You can conquer anything you put your mind to now.” Ari says, scratching his scalp gently. “You’ll know how to help other people who have been through similar situations, you’ll know what to do if it happens again, you’re so much stronger than you think you are.”

Silence.

Ari goes to speak but before he can, Dante pulls his face from his chest and presses his lips to Ari’s. They hold the kiss, passionate and loving. Ari is so thankful that Dante is okay. He can’t imagine how different things would be if something worse had happened in that accident. They keep the kiss going until Dante has to pull away, even more tears running down his cheeks.

“Why are you crying now?” Ari asks gently, brows furrowed in concern.

“Because I love you, Ari,” Dante says, smiling weakly.

“I love you too,” Ari smiles, chuckling a little. 

Dante hugs onto him, nuzzling into the crook of his neck. Ari can feel him start to relax.

“I’m so glad I have you, Aristotle.” Dante murmurs.

“I’m glad I have you, Dante.” Ari answers.

They’re both quiet for a moment, enjoying each other’s closeness. Every moment with Dante is wonderful. Ari couldn’t ask for anything better. 

“Are you ready to go back to bed? It’s pretty late.” Ari speaks up.

He can tell Dante is hesitant, and reasonably so. Ari wouldn’t want to sleep either if he had been plagued with nightmares. He playfully tickles Dante’s ribs and Dante jolts away, giggling.

“I promise I’ll wake you up if you have another bad dream, okay?”

“Okay,” Dante smiles, melting into Ari’s arms again. “Goodnight. I love you a lot.” He says.

“Sleep well,” Ari answers. “I love you even more.”


End file.
